{"id":180921,"date":"2025-09-25T13:50:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T13:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/180921\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T13:50:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T13:50:07","slug":"liev-schreiber-mayim-bialik-reject-israeli-industry-boycott-in-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/180921\/","title":{"rendered":"Liev Schreiber, Mayim Bialik Reject Israeli Industry Boycott in Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLiev Schreiber<\/a>, Mayim Bialik<\/a> and Debra Messing<\/a> are among more than 1,200 entertainment industry names who have signed a new open letter denouncing the call for a boycott of Israeli film institutions<\/a> over the war in Gaza. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe letter, released on Thursday by the nonprofit organizations Creative Community for Peace and The Brigade, urges the nearly 4,000 signees of the boycott pledge \u2014 including Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix \u2014 to reconsider their stance. Other stars and industry professonals putting their names behind the new open letter include Gene Simmons, Sharon Osbourne, Greg Berlanti, Jerry O\u2019Connell, Howie Mandel, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lisa Edelstein, Erin Foster, Anthony Edwards, Rebecca De Mornay, Sherry Lansing and Haim Saban.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe know the power of film. We know the power of story. That is why we cannot stay silent when a story is turned into a weapon, when lies are dressed up as justice, and when artists are misled into amplifying antisemitic propaganda,\u201d the letter begins. \u201cThe pledge circulated under the banner of Film Workers for Palestine is not an act of conscience. It is a document of misinformation that advocates for arbitrary censorship and the erasure of art. To censor the very voices trying to find common ground and express their humanity, is wrong, ineffective and a form of collective punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe boycott pledge, originally released on Sept. 8, said its signees would refuse to work with Israeli institutions and companies that are \u201cimplicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.\u201d Alongside Stone and Phoenix, signees included Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, Adam McKay, Boots Riley, Olivia Colman, Ayo Edebiri, Lily Gladstone, Mark Ruffalo, Hannah Einbinder, Peter Sarsgaard, Aimee Lou Wood, Paapa Essiedu, Gael Garcia Bernal, Riz Ahmed, Melissa Barrera, Cynthia Nixon, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Joe Alwyn and Josh O\u2019Connor.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the new letter points out, in spite of the boycott calls, much of the country\u2019s left-leaning film and TV industry has been standing against the Israeli government<\/a> at their own risk. Just last week, the film \u201cThe Sea\u201d \u2014 which tells the story of a young Palestinian boy who risks his life to go to the beach in Tel Aviv \u2014 won the top prize at Israel\u2019s Ophir Awards and was submitted as the country\u2019s selection for the Oscars international feature race<\/a>. As a result, the Israeli sports and culture minister vowed to cut funding<\/a> from the awards.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen artists boycott fellow artists based solely on their country of origin, it is blatant discrimination and a betrayal of our role as storytellers,\u201d Messing said in a statement. \u201cHistory shows us that boycotts against Jews have long been a tool of authoritarian regimes \u2014 by joining this effort, these artists are knowingly or unknowingly aligning themselves with a dark legacy of antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAdded Bialik: \u201cArtists and creatives have a unique opportunity and responsibility to remind the world of our shared humanity. Boycotting filmmakers, studios, production companies and individuals simply because they are Israeli fuels division and contributes to a disturbing culture of marginalization. Additionally, this boycott pledge does nothing to end the war in Gaza, bring the hostages home, or help curb the alarming rise of antisemitism globally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe new open letter also comes on the heels of Paramount condemning<\/a> the boycott call in a statement on Sept. 12. \u201cWe do not agree with recent efforts to boycott Israeli filmmakers,\u201d Paramount chief communications officer Melissa Zukerman said. \u201cSilencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace,\u201d the statement continued. \u201cThe global entertainment industry should be encouraging artists to tell their stories and share their ideas with audiences throughout the world. We need more engagement and communication \u2014 not less.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRead the full open letter below and see all the signees here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tTo our fellow artists and the global film community,<\/p>\n

\n\tWe know the power of film. We know the power of story. That is why we cannot stay silent when a story is turned into a weapon, when lies are dressed up as justice, and when artists are misled into amplifying antisemitic propaganda.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe pledge circulated under the banner of \u201cFilm Workers for Palestine\u201d is not an act of conscience. It is a document of misinformation that advocates for arbitrary censorship and the erasure of art.<\/p>\n

\n\tTo censor the very voices trying to find common ground and express their humanity, is wrong, ineffective, and a form of collective punishment.<\/p>\n

\n\tIsrael\u2019s film industry includes groundbreaking, celebratory, and critical projects about Palestinians and Jews, which many of you have lauded and celebrated. Israel\u2019s film community is restless, argumentative, and independent, where directors challenge ministers and many of the very festivals you target, consistently program dissent.<\/p>\n

\n\tIsrael\u2019s entertainment industry is a vibrant hub of collaboration between Jewish and Palestinian artists and creatives, who work together every single day to tell complex stories that entertain and inform both communities and the world. Israeli film institutions are not government entities. They are often the loudest critics of government policy.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe pledge uses nebulous terms like \u2018implicating\u2019 and \u2018complicity.\u2019 Who will decide which Israeli filmmakers and film institutions are \u2018complicit\u2019? A McCarthyist committee with blacklists? Or is \u2018complicity\u2019 just a pretext to boycott all Israelis and Zionists \u2014 95% of the world\u2019s Jewish population \u2014 no matter what they create or believe?<\/p>\n

\n\tHistory warns us. Censorship has been used to silence filmmakers before: Nazi Germany\u2019s propaganda machine, Soviet censorship, and even Hollywood\u2019s own blacklists. Every time it was dressed up as virtue. And every time it was oppression. Every time, its targets expanded.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe know that many of you have good intentions and believe you are standing for peace. But your names are being weaponized and tied to lies and discrimination. This pledge erases dissenting Israeli voices, legitimizes falsehoods, and shields Hamas from blame.<\/p>\n

\n\tIf you want peace, call for the immediate release of the remaining hostages. Support filmmakers who create dialogue across communities. Stand against Hamas.<\/p>\n

\n\tLet art speak the whole truth.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe call on all our colleagues in the entertainment industry to reject this discriminatory and antisemitic boycott call that only adds another roadblock on the path to peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liev Schreiber, Mayim Bialik and Debra Messing are among more than 1,200 entertainment industry names who have signed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[88578,88,70695,14639],"class_list":{"0":"post-180921","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-debra-messing","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-liev-schreiber","11":"tag-mayim-bialik"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}